Background: Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward…

The effectiveness of the community board in the mental health system specifically and in human service systems generally depends, to a large extent, on how the board's role and scope are defined and how its organizational structure and staffing procedures are developed. The development of community boards should be based upon the premises that (1)…

Agricultural leadership program graduates from 1982-2001 (n=290) and eight were interviewed. Survey results showed self-reported changes in knowledge and behavior. However, although they were aware of the importance of rural community development, they were not serving as community leaders nor actively improving their communities. (Contains 25…

The ineffectiveness of community boards as avenues for meaningful citizen participation in providing public human services may be traced to problems in service institutions, in communities, and in the boards themselves. In service institutions, community participation in the provision of services is discouraged by: (1) professionals' condescending…

This "In Brief" edition provides highlights from the "Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide for Parents, Educators, and Community Leaders, Second Edition." It presents the updated prevention principles, an overview of program planning, and critical first steps for those learning about prevention. Thus, this…

Community collaboration for improving career guidance is an attempt to obtain cooperation from local agencies, organizations, and volunteering individuals to provide assistance to citizens whose career needs are not being addressed. This monograph is designed to motivate and provide initial orientation for community leaders who want to develop…

In 1997, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) published the first edition of "Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide" to share the latest NIDA-funded prevention research findings with parents, educators, and community leaders. The guide introduced the concept of "research-based prevention" with questions…

A national evaluation study was conducted to ascertain the effects of the large quantity of manpower devoted to community organization and leadership development work by state cooperative extension services. Data were sought on evaluation questions which addressed objectives and policies related to community organizational and leadership…